by Joel Harrison
5. November 2010 13:24
A recent study suggests that children who were fitted with bifocal contact lenses in place of spectacles reported increased quality of life after only a month of wearing contact lenses.
The study included 27 subjects aged 8 to 11 years, whose refractive errors ranged from –1 to –6 D, with astigmatism below 1 D. They were given surveys before the beginning of the trial and after one month. As a result of switching to contact lenses, children’s satisfaction increased significantly. The score was almost the same as in a previous study concerning spherical contact lenses, which means that bifocal contact lenses are tolerated as well as spherical ones.
Taking the fact that some studies have found bifocal contact lenses to slow down the progress of myopia in teenagers, fitting children with such lenses seems to be beneficial enough for parents to overcome their fears and try it.
The next phase of the study, which is continued by Katie Greiner, OD, MS and Jeffrey J. Walline, OD, PhD, is to confirm the influence of wearing bifocal contact lenses on the progress of myopia.
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